


Scales of Love

by kathblack



Category: Harry Potter - J. K. Rowling
Genre: Creature Fic, Dragon Hermione, Dragons, F/F, F/M, Multi, Mythical Beings & Creatures, Polyamorous Character, Polyamory
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2019-06-22
Updated: 2019-08-22
Packaged: 2020-05-16 07:56:03
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 8
Words: 15,981
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/19313905
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/kathblack/pseuds/kathblack
Summary: Hermione wakes up on the morning of her sixteenth birthday and has a somewhat fiery reaction to her breakfast. Professor Snape shows up to inform her that she is adopted and she is descended from a bloodline that has draconic traits.Unable to hide her newfound identity from her friends, Harry and Ron turn on her and the only person who accepts her is Luna (and Professor Snape, but he has a vested interest in her for supplying rare potions ingredients).





	1. Fiery Awakening

**Author's Note:**

> This is just something I whipped up, don't have chapter two yet, so don't expect regular updates. I'm gonna start it now but who knows when it will be done lol. Watch this space?

It was the morning of Hermione's sixteenth birthday and she woke naked in her bed. She was boiling! 

Rolling out of bed, she almost tripped over her discarded duvet. 

Her stomach growled, and she shrugged and headed out of her room and down the hallway. It was time for breakfast!

As she sat down at the kitchen table, her parents smiled at her as she poured herself some cereal. She spooned a mouthful down her gob and almost immediately wanted to cough it back up. Since when had simple cereal tasted so terrible? 

Burping, she was shocked to feel flames rising in her throat, emerging from between her lips and scorching the remainder of the cereal in her bowl until there was nothing but a blackened piece of ceramic. 

"Hermione! What on earth has gotten into you?" Her mother asked, rising from her seat across the table and rushing over to her distraught daughter. 

"I... don't know?" Hermione got to her feet, backing away from the evidence of her fiery dislike of her breakfast. 

“Then what was that?" 

All Hermione could do was back away with her hands clutched over her stomach, not enjoying the roiling feeling deep in her guts, almost fiery, if she dared to say it, even just to herself. 

Just then, there was a knock on the door and a distant part of Hermione's brain noticed her father rise from his seat across the kitchen table and head to the foyer to open the front door. She didn't come back to herself until she was seated down on the couch in the living room with a cup of tea wedged between her shaking hands and a hand between her shoulder blades. 

Glancing around, she saw her parents sitting opposite them on the armchair closest to the fire, with her mother perched on the arm. She could only be glad she wasn't sitting on his lap in front of... whoever it was that was sitting next to her. 

Turning to look, she couldn't help but be shocked by the sight of Professor Snape! 

"Professor!" she gasped, the cup of tea tilting in her grip so that a little spilled out onto her lap until his hand folded around hers and steadied it. 

"Careful there, Miss Granger, you wouldn't want to waste that" he murmured, before turning away from her with a swish of his ebony hair and facing her parents once more. 

So she followed his gaze and saw their shocked gazes with a clearer mind than when she'd first returned to herself after her little panic attack. 

"What?" she asked. 

"Hermione, dear, there's something about you that you need to know" her mother started, then seemed to hesitate, as if it was too painful to discuss, even think of. 

Her father took over. "You're adopted" 

She gasped. This time Professor Snape took the cooling teacup from her hands entirely, and she barely noticed she was so focused on her parents and the shocking words that had just come from their lips. 

"That doesn't mean we love you any less, or that you're any less our daughter!" her mother rushed to correct herself. "We're still the ones that raised you, after all, but we did adopt you sixteen years ago as a newborn from an anonymous donor who Professor Snape is acquainted with and was instructed to pay us a visit today to inform us all of your true parentage and inheritance" she explained. 

"Inheritance?" Hermione's mind was spinning so fast that she could barely comprehend a single word they were saying as her whole life changed with two little words. Her whole perception shifted so wholly on its axis that it was sending her into a tailspin of confusion. And she was never confused. 

"Miss Granger" Professor Snape now "you have dragon blood in your heritage" 

And she got up and ran from the room. 

*** 

It couldn't be true! How could something like that happen to her and she didn't know about it? Harry and Ron would be shocked, something that the great Hermione Granger, know-it-all extraordinaire doesn't know. 

In fact, she wished she was already back at Hogwarts so she could look up everything there was to know about dragons in the library since none of the books she had with her at home really covered the topic in any level of depth that would satisfy her quest for knowledge. 

Maybe she could venture back downstairs and ask Professor Snape if he had any books about dragons and if he'd let her borrow them? He might if she asked politely and promised not to damage his books in any way. 

Sighing, she trumped down the stairs for the second time that day, in a decidedly worse mood than she'd been in earlier. 

Professor Snape was waiting for her at the bottom of the stairs, which made her want to hesitate, but she was resolute in her quest for answers. It was possible that she could summon up some of her famed Gryffindor bravery and just ask him to tell her everything he knew about her dragon heritage, and maybe he'd be kind enough to give her some books to research in her own time? But at least starting with a conversation would give her a starting point instead of going in blind. 

"Miss Granger. Are you back to yourself yet?" he asked. 

"I was wondering if you could tell me more about what being a dragon entails? And who my birth parents are?" she asked him as she rounded the bottom of the stairs, looking up into his stern face, blank of all expression as usual. 

"Of course. I know you prefer to learn from books as well, so I've come prepared with a series of books I've collected over the years that I think you'll find helpful. I've known about this for quite a few years now, so I've had time to prepare. If you have any further questions, please feel free to send me a letter with your queries" he spoke as he led her back into the sitting room she'd run away from not so long ago. It seemed he'd become familiar with the layout of the house in the short time she'd been gone. 

*** 

A few hours later, Hermione's brain was full and Professor Snape was leaving her parents house. She was still reeling from all that she'd discovered that morning, and the conversation that she'd had with Professor Snape, thankfully sans parents. She hadn't felt comfortable discussing the details of her adoption in front of them, it was a lot to deal with on the morning of her birthday. 

Apparently, her true parents were the Malfoys, Lucius Malfoy, and an unnamed pureblood woman, meaning she was technically a pureblood, though she'd been born in wedlock. The most shocking thing had been thinking that this meant that Draco was her half-brother! How was she supposed to get through the next school year knowing that they were related, and he had no idea. 

Professor Snape had told her that he'd been keeping a close eye on Draco and he hadn't exhibited any of the familial draconic traits that she had, which meant that he couldn't know about her until his parents braved up enough to tell him. Hopefully, she'd be able to maintain her cool around him so that he didn't get suspicious since she couldn't tell him anything. 

Apparently, as a new dragon, her powers were limited to overheated skin and a dislike of most human foods that she'd previously been fine with. For now, he'd recommended a lot of red meat, as raw as possible, with a few vegetables (also raw) on the side to maintain the right vitamin levels, otherwise, she'd experience the same fiery reaction she had to her cereal that morning, which felt like days ago at this point. 

Her plans for the rest of the day had now changed dramatically, well, from re-reading her course books for the next year to inhaling these Dragonology books that Professor Snape had loaned her. Because if that wasn't on brand for Hermione Granger, then she wouldn't know who she was anymore. 


	2. Gay Awakening

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Hermione catches the Hogwarts Express and has a few realisations.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Ok so after I'd written this and started the next chapter I realised it had slipped my mind that Hermione is too young at this point for it to be a post-war story if I wanted to stick to canon (which obviously I'm not, but like timeline wise) So uhhhh,,, keep that discrepancy in mind and I swear it will be resolved in the next chapter, cross my hearts :P

Going to Hogwarts a few weeks later was such a different experience from what Hermione was used to, knowing that she was technically a Malfoy by blood, if not by name and that no one knew except the Malfoys themselves, excepting Draco. Not to mention the fact that she couldn't tell anyone who didn't already know! Not that anyone would believe her anyway... 

Sighing, she gripped her trolley tighter, packed tightly with her trunk, which was mostly full of books and only the bare minimum of clothes. So long as she wasn't really naked, she didn't care much about her appearance. Which explained why no boy ever looked twice in her direction, which made her slightly sad, but then she'd bury herself in her schoolwork again and all her troubles left her mind for the delicious challenge of academia. 

She didn't know how she was going to explain the extreme changes her body had been going through since her birthday to Harry and Ron. They weren't exactly the most observant bunch, but even they would notice something about her had changed eventually. They weren't completely thick. 

After having run through the barrier, she was surprised to see that they weren't there yet, seeing that it was almost 11 am already. 

Shrugging, she headed towards the train and began to lug her trunk up the stairs and onto the train. Their usual carriage was empty, so she claimed it with glee, plonking herself down on the seat near the window for the best light and settled down to reread one of the books on Dragonology that Professor Snape had given her. 

She lost track of time until she was awakened from her daze by the sounds of the clock striking eleven, and the train starting its engine. When she looked up she was surprised to see that she wasn't alone, but the person sitting across from her wasn't Harry or Ron. 

It was Luna, wearing her usual strange spectacles and reading a copy of the Quibbler upside down. Honestly, at this point, it would be more strange to see her reading it the right way up! 

And yet, Hermione found herself strangely drawn to the way the light reflected off her translucent golden locks of hair cascading down around her face. And then Luna looked up and she felt her cheeks redden. Hopefully, the other girl hadn't noticed the way she'd been checking her out. 

"Where are Harry and Ron?" she asked instead of what she really wanted to say, which was something along the lines of 'when did you get so attractive?'   
Luna cocked her head to one side and lowered the Quibbler. Then she just shrugged. 

Hermione wanted to groan out her frustration but withheld. It wouldn't be ladylike. And besides, it might be unfamiliar, but at least it saved her having to hide her true self from them for a little while longer, at least until she got to Hogwarts. Maybe it was a blessing in disguise to have this extra bit of time to herself? 

"I didn't know you were interested in magical creatures" Luna commented, shocking Hermione out of her reverie. 

Now Hermione was the one to shrug. 

"Things change" she stated enigmatically. 

"It will be colder in Scotland, don't you want to be changing into your nice warm uniform?" Luna asked, her tone somewhat pointed. 

Hermione shuddered at the thought of putting on all those layers of clinging wool that would trap all the heat that her body now produced. She'd learned that if the heat rose too high, she was liable to set things on fire, including her clothes. She herself was invulnerable to heat, but her clothes were not. It would be terribly embarrassing if that were to happen in the middle of all her classmates and she'd be left naked with no way to shield herself from their judgemental gazes! 

"Here, take this" Luna said to her, and she looked up to see that the blonde girl was handing her a package. 

"What's this for?" she asked, confused. 

"Your condition" Luna said, frowning at her over her colourful glasses. 

Hermione shrugged, accepted the parcel and opened it carefully. 

She was shocked to find a Hogwarts uniform in just her size, except made entirely in delicate silk rather than the heavier wool of the uniform she had packed in her trunk. In fact, from the outside, it was so identical to her actual uniform that no one would notice that it wasn't the official uniform unless they touched the fabric, and as far as she was concerned, no one should have any occasion to touch her anyway. 

"How did you know?" she gasped out, clutching the silky softness of the fabric to her chest. She felt guilty that she had no gift for Luna, but she'd be damned if she'd give this back when it would surely save her life in more ways than one once they arrived at school. 

"How did you not know?" Luna replied. 

Hermione was frustrated with her non-answer. "Because I'm muggleborn! Of course, it didn't occur to me that I'd be in any way related to the Malfoys, let alone some rare draconic descendant creature thing!" she almost shouted. 

"Hmm" Luna hummed. "I have some books on the topic I think you'd find interesting if you wanted to borrow them?" she offered, turning back to her still up-side-down copy of the Quibbler. "Daddy and I almost found a Crumple-Horned Snorkack over the summer break, how pleased he'll be that I've found a dragon!" she laughed. 

Hermione rolled her eyes. Typical Luna. 

Leaving her satchel on the seat, she took the new uniform with her to the bathroom to change into it. She was sure it would be infinitely more comfortable to wear than the clothes she was currently wearing, despite the fact that they were the lightest weight fabrics she owned that wouldn't stick out like a sore thumb among all the other winter-prepared students on the train. 

Being entirely ensconced in silk felt just as luxurious as she'd hoped. Though she didn't want to even think about how she'd manage to keep them clean, and how the house elves would manage to wash them without tearing them apart, they seemed so fragile to her. And she knew enough to know that cleaning spells were notoriously rough, and would likely tear apart such a delicate fabric. 

Heading back to the cabin felt strange as if there was something new in her relationship with Luna than there'd been before, and she felt self-conscious—as if everyone could see it on her skin. In reality, all they could see was that she was looking decidedly more flushed than she did normally.   


Luna looked up as she opened the door, smiling at her through those strange glasses, that Hermione was only just now noticing, enhanced the glittering effect of her ice-blue eyes. 

"Much better" she stated, and Hermione almost laughed at her assurance. How could she tell, she wasn't the one wearing them! Not that Hermione disagreed with her assessment, it was just a little strange, how perceptive the other girl was. Perhaps she's never noticed before because of her quite deliberate effort to ignore her and all her strange ways until Harry had taken her under his wing. 

She'd never really understood Luna, but now she had to admit that she was quickly growing to appreciate the depth of knowledge she held about the various magical creatures in the world, whether or not they actually existed was becoming something that she was realising she didn't know everything about; that all the facts weren't present in the books she'd already read and that some facts just couldn't be found in books for all sorts of reasons. 

"It is much more comfortable" she admitted. "Thank you so much for the thoughtful gift and I do really feel terrible that I don't have anything for you in return" 

Luna just shrugged. "Anything for a friend" and Hermione almost collapsed to her knees in the narrow gap between the two benches to beg for her forgiveness. 

"But I've been a terrible friend to you" she questioned the other girl, plonking herself down beside Luna, hopefully not too close to give her any discomfort. 

"I know, but I don't have anything to compare it to. And I know you're capable of being a good friend; just look at your relationship with Harry and Ron!" Luna pointed out. 

Hermione wanted to point out the discrepancies in that theory, of all the times when she'd been a terrible friend to them too, or them to her, as demonstrated by them not showing up today to catch the Express with her even though they'd both solemnly promised that they'd be here. But she eventually decided not to destroy the innocence of what so far seemed to be her only friend in her final year at Hogwarts. She would either become a better person over the course of the year, or Luna would see her true colours soon enough. 


	3. Careers Advice

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Hermione arrives at Hogwarts, Professor Snape pulls her aside at the end of the Feast and they have a chat about her career options.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Ok, so the discrepancy to canon timeline is sort of resolved early in this chapter, if you're paying attention. I've left the hows and where's to the reader's discretion, since I don't think it's a huge deal. It's been covered by other fanfic writers before. Hopefully you enjoy!

Arriving at Hogwarts with Luna at her side instead of Harry and Ron changed her whole opinion of the castle in general and of them as people. In fact, as they entered the Great Hall, she couldn't see them anywhere and was forced to assume that they weren't going to be attending Hogwarts this year at all, and had gone back on their word. It must have been recent because they had assured her of their presence in their letters to her a week ago. 

Maybe she'd go and ask McGonagall about it after the feast, surely she'd know about it. She knew their Head of House was a bit of a confidant to Harry at least, and where Harry went, Ron was sure to follow. 

The feast passed without her attending to any of its details, barely even remembering to eat until her stomach growled so loudly that she was forced to try some of the roast meat, though she choked it down, annoyed at herself for forgetting that she could only stomach raw meat now. She'd have to sneak down to the kitchens later if she wanted anything that would actually sustain her new appetite.   
Before she could, Professor Snape had accosted her upon her exiting the Great Hall. 

"Miss Granger, it has come to my attention that you have not attended your mandatory careers counselling yet, and since your Head of House is now engaged as the Headmistress, she's charged me to discuss it with you instead" he explained. 

Shrugging, she fell in behind him as he headed down to the dungeons where she assumed he would talk to her in his office. She'd been prepared for this meeting long before it's occurrence, but that was before her transformation. These recent discoveries about her true identity and heritage had rather shifted her entire world on its axis, and she had to admit that she needed to do more research about what everything entailed before she decided how to proceed with her life after the war. 

Helping Harry and Ron to defeat Voldemort might look good on her resume, but being a pureblood who was born out of wedlock and was also a rare magical creature was surely not going to go down well with the more conservative powers that be. 

"Have you thought at all about what you'd like to do after you graduate from Hogwarts?" Professor Snape asked. "Because if you have given it some thought, then it will make choosing your NEWTS subjects infinitely easier, and though the year has already started, there is still time to change from one subject to another should your original career plans change in the near future" he spoke as he closed his office door behind her. 

She sat down on the hard wooden chair facing his desk while she thought over her response. 

"I had some things in mind that I'd like to do with my life, which mostly centred around the Ministry, but after the war and its final battle, I don't think it's the right place for me anymore. Not to mention I don't really think the establishment, in general, would appreciate a dragon in their midst" she explained. 

"And I've thought long and hard about what I'd like to do instead of working at the Ministry, but so far I haven't really landed on anything that I'm 100% certain of. At this point I'm so confused about what to do I'd trust someone else, like your, opinion of what I should do than anything else. I"m at a loss!" she ended her little speech. 

"Have you considered an Apprenticeship?" Professor Snape spoke after having considered her speech for a minute or two. "I agree that bureaucracy isn't the right choice for you, but given how much you've thrived in the academic arena of Hogwarts, I do think that you would thrive even more in an individual learning environment that an Apprenticeship with one of the Professors here would provide for you. I think any teacher would be glad to have you, though none of us has taken on an Apprentice in years, the last one was Minerva herself, I believe, before the first Wizarding War. I think it's just what this castle needs to freshen up after the war, have some fresh ideas to shake things up around here and ensure something like that never happens again, at least until we're all long dead" 

Hermione laughed at his final statement but was really considering his words. 

"If I did decide I wanted to do an Apprenticeship, which subjects would you recommend as my strong points for that, and would I need to change any of my NEWTS subjects?" she asked. 

"That would depend on what your areas of the greatest interest are, and if you have any ideas in mind to work on for your major project that would allow you to achieve your Mastery, with the guidance of your Master, of course, and if you don't have anything in mind right now, then I can obviously assist you in figuring that out. As you no doubt already know, I have an extensive library of books which are at your disposal throughout your NEWTS and your Apprenticeship should any of them be of use to you" he assured her. 

She smiled at him, wondering why he was being so nice to her after all this time of his indifference and cruelty towards her. 

"You want potions ingredients from me, don't you!" she exclaimed after a few minutes of awkward silence between them while she'd been mulling over his motivations. No Slytherin was ever kind to someone who wasn't a member of their direct family unless they wanted something from the other person. 

And she laughed when he spluttered his protests. 

"You can't fool me" she told him. "I know what you Slytherins are like. And I don't mind, though I don't understand what exactly you want from me, which tells me I absolutely should ask both you and Luna what exactly you know about dragons so I do have some understanding of what I'm in for. In fact, I'll probably spend the rest of tonight finishing off those books you loaned me, and I assume there's more where those came from so I'll return them to you as soon as I can" she finished, wondering why it was that her mouth was running away with her even more than it normally did. Was she nervous? She wasn't used to feeling like this, slightly shaky like her whole body was vibrating on a higher frequency than normal, and her hands felt like they did right before an exam. 

"If I did... have a need... of certain potions ingredients from you, that really wouldn't bother you?" he asked. 

"Depends on what they are" she hedged. "How... personal... these ingredients are" 

"Well, first of all, I'd love to test your saliva to see if that's where your flames issue from, then I'd love to test your stomach bile if you don't mind. If you ever start to physically change forms into a more draconic form, I'd love to test those as well. I admit that so far, the research I've done on draconic presentation in magical folk has not turned up much in the way of concrete results. A lot of it is word of mouth at best, and straight up speculation at worst, which I'm imagining is because of the discrimination in larger wizarding society, which hopefully you won't have to deal with as much, judging from your background. Speaking of, Lucius will be visiting the school this weekend to tell Draco about you, and he wishes to get acquainted with you while he's here. I've told him I'll prep you for it, ensure you're familiar with all the required pureblood traditions that will be necessary for such a meeting" Professor Snape explained. 

Hermione nodded her understanding. "That sounds fair enough. What exactly do the Malfoy's expect from me? Also, how do you anticipate Draco reacting to the news about me, you who know him best, being his godfather. Also, will I ever get to meet my mother or Narcissa? How does she feel about me, if she knows?" she rambled, letting her nerves get the best of her. 

"As far as I know, only Lucius knows of your true identity, but Narcissa is an intelligent woman, so she might have some inkling of it, so don't be surprised if she does show up with her husband and take you aside and take you under her wing as if she were your mother. And she's very good at it, so I wouldn't deny her if I were you" he explained. 

"You haven't answered all of my questions" Hermione pointed out. 

"Well, you already know that Lucius wants to get to know you, which with him is always a good sign. Narcissa will like you, and like all Slytherin parents, all they'll want from you is for you to be happy, and have a position in life that they can be proud of, which you'll have no trouble achieving. As for Draco, he's the only wild card in this scenario, as even those who know him best, in your words, can predict how he'll behave when he finds out. So I'd say hope for the best and prepare for the worst. And Lucius has informed me that he'll be arriving early on Saturday, so if he does react badly, you'll at least have the rest of the weekend to bunker down and hopefully he'll have calmed down by the time classes resume on Monday" he finished off. 

Hermione found herself only mildly reassured by this. She didn't want this family drama to take over her whole life, she had important studies to focus on, since this being the beginning of her NEWT years was quite important to the future of her education if she did decide to go ahead with a Hogwarts Apprenticeship, which was looking increasingly likely the more she thought about it. 

"From what I know of Malfoy, that doesn't surprise me in the slightest, though I'm sure you'll understand if I don't find it very comforting. I really don't want my last years at Hogwarts to be consumed with drama, I just want to focus on my studies until I graduate, and then I'll probably do an Apprenticeship because you're right, that does sound very much like something I'd not just enjoy but excel at. Thing is, I don't know what I'd like to specialise in for that Apprenticeship. It'll probably take me these two years to figure it out!" she joked, hoping her laughing tone covered her nerves at the thought of meeting one of her biological parents, and one who seemed to be more of an adoptive figure. 

She could only hope like hell that her life wouldn't get any more complicated from this point on. 


	4. The Meeting

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Hermione and Draco interact for the first time since the revelation. Luna saves the day and shares some of her special insight.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Ok, so I know my Luna is hella OOC but to be honest, I don't know how to do her justice. And yes I can hear you saying I shouldn't write her if I can't do it properly, but I'm fascinated by her character and I think the combination between her and Hermione will be interesting to play around with since they're such different people.

The weekend arrived faster than Hermione had hoped for. She'd done her best to prepare for it, bugging Professor Snape down in his office every night of the week in an attempt to learn everything she could about pureblood etiquette. She had to admit that there was a large part of her that was still freaking out about the whole thing, even though she was almost 100% certain that she had all the required steps down pat for when she met Lucius Malfoy, her birth father. 

What a strange thought to be thinking! Never in her wildest dreams had she even considered that there was a possibility her abilities as a witch might stem from the purity of her blood, she'd always prided herself on her intellectual and magical ability as being separate from the circumstances. How galling it was after all these years to find out how wrong she'd been. 

How awful to think that maybe those blood purist Death-Eater types might have had a point and that her identity as Hermione Granger the Muggleborn and champion of equal rights had been a hypocrite all these years! 

Coming forward with the truth, especially in this fractious climate after the end of the war, would be a PR disaster of the highest order, no matter which way the Malfoys' wanted to spin the story to the masses. 

Shrugging off all her concerns and berating herself for being five thousand steps ahead of where she actually was, Hermione added the last finishing touches to her carefully chosen outfit and glanced briefly in the mirror to ensure that her hair was behaving itself. Then it was time to head off. 

Sure, she knew they'd want to talk to Draco first, but that wouldn't stop her from heading down to the Great Hall nice and early for breakfast where she hoped she'd see him before his parents arrived so that she'd have advanced notice of his mood that day, and just how much she should be on her guard for the rest of the weekend, if not the rest of the school year! 

Breakfast wasn't even on her mind, though she knew she should care a little more about her nutrition, after having fought in the final battle at the Ministry at the end of last year, well, it had forced her to reconsider a lot of things she'd previously considered important. Almost dying in the heat of battle and being permanently scarred by it did tend to change one's perspective on a lot of things. 

Still, just so she didn't look suspicious sitting with her back to the wall at the Gryffindor table, she made herself some tea and toast. Later, she wouldn't remember whether or not she'd actually eaten any of it since she'd barely got an opportunity to settle into her seat when the person she'd been waiting to see burst through the doors and stormed over to her. 

From the way he grabbed her by her biceps, she could assume that he wasn't happy with the news of their true relationship to one another. 

"How long have you known?" he insisted, pushing her back into the wall beside the entrance to the Great Hall. 

"A few weeks" she admitted. 

He backed away from her. She stayed hunched into herself against the wall and left him to sort out his feelings on his own. From her dealings with Harry and Ron when they were upset about something or other, she knew that if she disturbed him now, he'd lash out at her even more. And it was entirely possible that unlike Harry and Ron, he wouldn't regret it later. 

A few minutes passed between the two of them in this awkward silence while Draco seemed to be deep in thought. Then he turned back to her, though he kept his distance. 

"How is that you found out before I did? And I'm their son!" he asked her, though she stayed mum. She knew he wasn't really asking her; that he was asking if she was more important than him to his parents, which she was sure wasn't the case, but she also knew that right now her opinion meant nothing to him. 

Not to mention that his Slytherin mindset would be convinced that she'd just say that to reassure him regardless of if she truly meant it.   
Before the situation could be resolved naturally, by Draco reaching a conclusion he found satisfactory and leaving her alone so that she could leave, instead, Luna walked into the middle of their family drama, seemingly oblivious to all the emotions clouding the atmosphere. But Hermione knew better. Luna was always perceptive and always knew more about everything that was invisible to everyone else, which was why Hermione declared that besides her new appreciation for her friend's visual aesthetics, she'd listen and appreciate to all of Luna's ideas since they were always accompanied with nuggets of insight into the human condition. 

And considering her dragon situation, perhaps Luna's ideas would, for once, have a practical application when it came to understanding her animal nature as compared to the human one she was used to. And she could always go to Professor Snape to verify the things that Luna told her. 

"Your parents love you very much Draco" Luna spoke in her dreamy, airy tone. 

Hermione expected it to escalate the situation, but had the surprise of her life when it instead seemed to calm Draco down! 

"I could sense their care for you in their auras when they were here to speak to you. They could not be prouder of the people both of their children are growing into" Luna reassured them both, turning from Draco to look meaningfully at Hermione, which she did find quite reassuring, considering her impending meeting with the Malfoy's that afternoon. 

Draco seemed to pause, as if deep in thought. Hermione wondered if they should move somewhere more private than the entryway to the Great Hall since she was certain that Draco wouldn't want anyone else becoming aware of their drama. 

"Should we perhaps adjourn to somewhere more private?" she inquired when it didn't seem like Draco was going to emerge from his reverie anytime soon. 

"It's a lovely day outside, it would be nice to sit by the lake and talk to the Giant Squid" Luna offered. 

Hermione smiled gratefully at her and started to move in that direction, away from the impending doom afforded by the looming doors to the Great Hall. Luna followed her and joined their arms together. 

She didn't think to look behind them until they were already on the shores of the Black Lake, only to discover that Draco hadn't followed them. 

Shrugging, she decided she didn't mind all that much. Luna had given him enough to think about for one morning, and this meant that she was free to spend some time with Luna before this afternoon. Maybe she had some advice for her too? 

"What do you know about the Giant Squid?" she asked the other girl, wondering what insight Luna would have on something as mundane as a cephalopod. 

"Well, it must be magical to some degree, because Giant Squid normally live in the depths of the ocean, and despite the size of the Black Lake, it's not really big enough of an ecosystem to support both the Giant Squid and the merpeople. No one's really studied it in detail, but the majority consensus is that being around so much juvenile and uncontrolled magic must have been absorbed into the environment here, and I wouldn't be surprised if the lake is bigger than it appears to be from the surface. Similarly, a less accepted, but nonetheless true, the theory is that uncontrolled hormonal teenage magic has manifested in Peeves, and the length of time that Hogwarts has served as a magical institution has caused the building itself to soak itself in magic, leading it to be somewhat sentient. It's rumoured that the Headmaster's magic is tied into the castle, allowing them to apparate in and out of the castle, and aid them in managing the school. In fact, I believe the ties go deeper than that, and almost tie into the Headmaster's soul because it certainly seems to me that the castle is capable of manifesting the emotional energy exuded by the Headmaster at the time, and vice-versa. However, my belief is that the magic of the grounds of Hogwarts are a law unto their own, and are disconnected from the castle itself and therefore from the Headmaster. This means that we all need to travel carefully when we leave the castle and be respectful of all the beings living in the lake and the forest. There's a reason it's called the Forbidden Forest!" she finished her lengthy speech. 

Hermione found herself fascinated, not just by the passionate, but logical way that Luna spoke, but also by the content of her speech.   
It was fascinating to think that this intelligent young woman had been in there behind her kooky exterior for all these years, and she, being someone who prided herself on her own quick thinking and perception, had never noticed! It was shameful, really. 

"That's fascinating!" she eventually summoned the wherewithal to speak. "Honestly, Hogwarts is supposed to have the best magical education in Britain and yet no one knows this stuff! It's shocking" 

Luna just shrugged. "I guess it's not important to most people. They spend seven years of their life here and then they leave to go about the rest of their lives and never really think much about their school days unless they have to. It would be different for people who choose to stay on at Hogwarts, like the teachers, but it seems as if a lot of them aren't aware of the true capacity of the castle either. And maybe that's a good thing?" 

Hermione considered this. Perhaps it was a good thing for such ignorance in the magical public to exist. Imagine if Voldemort had known this! He could have used this information to install one of his Death Eaters as Headmaster and manipulate the castle that way just so that he could get at Harry. It chilled her to the bone to think what might have happened had they not ended it all last summer. 

"I agree" was all she said. Thoughts of the final battle were spinning around in her mind's eye, trapping her in the endless corridors of the Department of Mysteries where she was running and running and she could never stop because there was always the deranged laughter of Bellatrix Lestrange right behind her as she called to her fellow Death Eaters about the delicious feast they were about to have. 

She often woke up from nightmares like this, and occasionally found herself so stressed by the prospect of torture at Bellatrix's hands that she was forced to take Dreamless sleep so she could doze off without going back to that horrible place. 

"Hey, it's ok" Luna spoke softly, wrapping a slender arm around her shoulder and tugging her closer. 

Hermione rested her head on the other girl's shoulder for a moment and took a deep breath, smelling the radishes that Luna was wearing as earrings and smiling at the thought that some things would never change. 


	5. The Malfoys

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Hermione meets Mr and Mrs Malfoy for the first time outside of a war context. Let's consider it their first official meeting. They discuss her future prospects while Professor Snape attempts to mediate when they get off track.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> So I may have finished this one a while ago and just forgotten to publish it... *ducks* anyway, hope you enjoy it!

Finally, the afternoon arrived, and Hermione was still nervous about her meeting with her biological parents. Well, one of them. Though spending the morning with Luna had calmed her in some ways and made her even more anxious in others, she felt about as prepared as she'd ever be for meeting the Malfoys for the first time outside of the battlefield. 

Though she was much calmer than she'd been that morning, Hermione still wasn't entirely sure what to think about her impending meeting with the Malfoys. She'd been used to considering them the enemy, so it was quite a cognitive dissonance to have to turn around and think of them as a family instead. It was all too sudden for her poor war-traumatised mind. 

So now here she was, waiting for them to arrive at the castle doors, trying not to slump or fidget. She was listing all the pureblood traditions and etiquette she'd learned from Professor Snape in her head to try to calm herself down, but instead, it was just ramping her nerves up to eleven. So she switched to reciting potions ingredients in alphabetical order and reminding herself what they were used for. It was a technique that she found immensely calming, it even helped her sleep! Though mostly she found it an effective study tactic. 

Sure enough, just as she was getting to the end of the list of potions ingredients that she knew of, she could see movement down the path to the gates. Moving outside the bounds of the castle to meet them, she smiled as kindly as she could. 

They came to a stop in front of her, and she curtsied to them as Professor Snape had showed her how to do. 

Mr. Malfoy grasped her hands and pulled her to her feet. 

"Miss Granger, it's so lovely to meet you in such a peaceful setting. This is my wife, Narcissa, I don't believe you've been officially introduced" he spoke in his posh accent. Hermione suddenly felt self-conscious about her own upper-middle-class accent, sure, she wasn't exactly a chav, but she wasn't like magical royalty or anything. 

"It's lovely to meet you both," she said as she nodded respectfully in Narcissa's direction since Lucius still had a hold of her hands. 

Narcissa nodded back, and the official pureblood traditional introductions were over with. Hermione internally sighed a sigh of relief, having been anxious about this all day. 

"Would you like to come in for a cup of tea?" she offered. "Professor Snape has offered us the use of his sitting room to allow us some privacy" she explained as she turned to head back towards the castle.  


Mr. Malfoy offered her his arm, which she graciously accepted, while his wife took his other arm, and in this strange procession, they headed into Hogwarts proper. 

*** 

Professor Snape was kind enough to greet them at the entrance to his office, dressed casually in a forest green cable-knit jumper and a pair of black slacks. It was the first time Hermione had seen him in anything that wasn't his usual uniform of his tailored frock coat. It suited him. 

He ushered them into his office before leading them into his private sanctum where a tea-tray was already prepared on the coffee table before a roaring fire. Hermione smiled gratefully at him as she followed him into his sitting-room. She wasn't sure, but it seemed as if his black eyes glittered a little more than usual at her in return. 

Mr. Malfoy chose the armchair that Professor Snape normally sat in, while Mrs. Malfoy perched delicately on the couch and Hermione sat down beside her. She wasn't sure where Professor Snape disappeared to, but when she looked around once she was settled comfortably, he was nowhere to be seen. 

"Draco didn't take the news well" Narcissa started. 

Hermione chuckled before she could stop herself. "That's an understatement! But I think he has a right, he's been your son for longer in all the ways that count"   


She'd been maintaining eye contact with Mrs. Malfoy, so when she looked over at her husband, she was disconcerted to see him frowning. 

"I had expected him to be pleased, he's always wanted a sibling" he wondered. 

"Yes, I understand that feeling, as an only child myself. However, I imagine he wanted a younger sibling, from both of his children, not a classmate that he's hated for his entire adolescence!" she explained. "It's natural that he would need to take some time to adjust" 

"That's very mature for a young woman of your age" Narcissa replied. 

"I'm not sure mature is the right word to use to describe me" Hermione claimed. "It's merely a logical conclusion to reach based on the available information" 

Now Lucius was the one to laugh. "Severus was right about you! You're much more adult than your peers, and though I hate to say it, I'm forced to include our son in that group" 

Narcissa gasped and placed her hand against her chest. Hermione tried not to laugh. Perhaps the Slytherin reputation for being able to control their expressions and emotional reactions was simply a myth, or only applied to Professor Snape, because it seemed to her that the Malfoys were all massive drama queens! 

"I hope you don't mind me saying this, but you all seem to be overreacting to this a bit" she offered into the silence that had descended. 

"Excuse me, I only just discovered that I have a step-daughter! And my son is emotionally compromised over it, I think I have a right to be overreacting about it, especially since Lucius felt the urge to keep this from me for all these years we've been married! To think my own husband who knows me so well and how much I like children in general, it's not as if I'd have loved him or you any less for having not been mine” Narcissa protested. 

Hermione considered her words before she replied. "You have a point" and she looked at Lucius to see what he would say to his wife. 

"Darling, you forget that the rest of the pureblood world isn't as forgiving as you are. Hermione would have been judged everywhere she went, and we'd all have suffered for it. At least this way, our greatest danger has been defeated and we are in control of how we release the news to the public. We all may have suffered, but it could have been much worse" he theorised. 

Hermione kind of hated that she agreed with him, because there was a tiny part of her that wondered what her life would have been like if she'd been raised as Draco's sibling instead of as a Muggle, believing there was something wrong with her whenever her magic manifested itself in some unexplainable way. 

"I couldn't help but overhear" Snape interjected. "If Hermione had been raised with you, she'd have been in great danger while Voldemort lived, and Draco's reputation would have been negatively impacted too. However, this is all in the past and while fascinating retrospectively, is not essential, nor the purpose of this meeting. The past is gone and unchangeable, so there's no use stressing about it now when it's all over and you're all as safe as you can be" 

Narcissa looked as if she didn't agree, and suddenly Hermione felt torn, strung out between the accuracy of what Snape had proposed and an overwhelming sense of sympathy for Narcissa's struggle as a mother. Even though Hermione already had a mum who she loved dearly, there was a part of her that yearned for a motherly figure who understood the difficulties of being a woman in the wizarding world, and there was something instinctual that told her that Narcissa might be able to be that person for her. 

"A parent should always support their child!" Narcissa protested. 

"Not all parents feel as strongly on the subject as you do" Snape's tone was bitter, as if he had personal experience with this phenomenon. 

Hermione felt a rush of sympathy for her teacher, having previously never known what had made him such a bitter person who was hard to relate to. She agreed with Narcissa on this that all parents should support their children no matter what, unless they were serial killer murderers, and while Harry and Ron would protest that that was exactly what Snape was, she knew that it was him that had sent the Order after them on their hare-brained quest to the Department of Mysteries last year. Because of this and all the other ways he'd saved them through the years of their education at Hogwarts, she firmly believed that there was a good person inside him that just needed a little encouragement to come to life. 

"Now, Severus, not all parents are as shite as yours" Lucius interjected. "So there's no need for you to project your experiences onto ours" 

Sighing, Professor Snape sank down onto the end of the couch beside Hermione, where she and Narcissa were already sitting. He dragged a hand down his face and his whole body conveyed his downcast state, and she wanted to reach out to him but didn't dare. He was still her teacher after all, and she doubted he'd appreciate her presumptions to his person. 

"Just imagine it, Lucius, Voldemort running wild through your house had we failed at the Ministry, and you unable to protect both of your children. Would you really inflict that upon them?" He finally said, black eyes piercing as they burned their way into Lucius's. Hermione was glad she wasn't on the receiving end of such a look. 

Now Lucius was the one to sigh, which to Hermione's limited knowledge of him, seemed to indicate that he was agreeing with Snape even if he didn't want to. 

"Besides, that isn't the purpose of this meeting" Snape continued. Hermione turned to look at him in confusion. She'd thought this was just an introductory meeting with no other deeper meaning. 

She was now realising that she should have known better, that Slytherins always had more than one reason for doing something. She was going to have to adjust quickly if this was going to be her life from now on. 

"Then what is the purpose?" she asked him, turning where she sat facing toward Lucius to face him instead. She wanted to watch the subtle expressions cross his face while he spoke since he was such an enigmatic person and she was desperate to get to know him better if they were going to be in each other's lives more often now that her true heritage had come to light. And that seemed like it would be the case, considering the close relationship he seemed to have with the Malfoys. 

"To discuss the best strategy for your introduction to the greater wizarding world as one of the Malfoys, of course" Snape said, his face and tone totally blank. Hermione envied his ability to give absolutely nothing away beside the exact meaning that his words conveyed. 

"Oh" was all she had to say to that, though she was certain that her face and body gave away much more of her true feelings than the simplicity of her words. 


	6. Discussions

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Hermione and the Malfoys continue their discussion about the nature of her future in wizarding society. Some serious topics are raised. (Nothing that deserves a content warning though, so don't worry)

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Finished this up yesterday, hope you all enjoy!  
> p.s. have decided that Severus and Hermione's age difference is so large at the moment and she's still so young that I'll be taking that aspect of the romance v v slowly until she gets older. Which means there'll probably be more Luna in the next few chapters, so get excited for that I guess?

Hermione was more than a little bit surprised when she felt a hand grip hers and turned away from Snape to see that the hand belonged to Narcissa who appeared to be trying to comfort her. Narcissa's hand was warm and soft in hers, and she appreciated the gesture when this week had been such a trying time for her. She was forced to acknowledge that it must also be for Narcissa, since she was only just discovering that her husband had had another lover besides herself, which had then produced fruit that she'd been unaware of for sixteen years. 

Hermione couldn't fully relate, having never been in a relationship before, but that would have to sting. 

"I know it seems swift to you, Hermione, but I'd imagine that this is something that my husband and Severus have been planning for years now. It will go easier for you if you just let them handle it and go with the flow" Narcissa's pale blue gaze bored into her, though her tone was soft and encouraging. 

Hermione bristled. "I will not allow any man to tell me what to do, regardless of his good intentions!" she insisted, tugging her hands from Narcissa's surprisingly strong grip. "I demand to be involved in this process, even if I don't understand the intricacies of pureblood interactions as well as you all do! How am I to cope once I graduate if I don't know how to communicate properly among wizarding society without one of you to hold my hands?" 

"Please don't shout at my wife, she meant no offence" Lucius tried to calm her down, but Hermione was having none of it, jumping from the couch and pacing back and forth in front of the fireplace like a caged lioness. "Of course, we're quite happy to offer you access to our expertise on our society, but we're not here to tell you what to do, merely to offer the options that we think are the best way forward. But we would never force you to do anything that you're not fully comfortable with!" he insisted. 

Hermione barely heard him, her mind racing as she thought of all the injustices she'd already fought and how she'd been foolish to think she'd ever be free of them for the rest of her life. It was becoming clear to her that winning the war was not the final battle she'd have to fight for her rightful place in wizarding society. Even if to an outsider it did seem as if she was overreacting, she knew that her feelings were valid. 

Still lost in her thoughts, she didn't notice when the conversation continued behind her as she paced, until a gentle hand tapped her on the shoulder, forcing her to whirl around in shock and assume an automatic defensive position. Her war instincts still hadn't died down, and it had been months since the final battle. She could only hope that they didn't last her for the rest of her life! 

Looking up, she was surprised to see Professor Snape standing before her, hands raised as if he was surrendering to her. Blushing, Hermione dropped her posture and the wand she hadn't realised she'd pulled down from where she stored it in her sleeve. 

"I'm sorry, I got caught up in my thoughts" she offered up as an explanation for her behaviour, and was surprised yet again when her surly Professor's face softened a little as he gazed down his long nose at her. However, unlike the other times he'd done so, she wasn't afraid of him at all, in fact, it was quite the opposite, as she felt a warm feeling blossoming in her chest quite without her consent. 

"We understand, we've all been there" he offered in return. She couldn't help but smile. 

Hermione shook herself from head to toe as if to rid herself of the beast that still raged within her soul ever since that fateful night at the Department of Mysteries. It was strange to find herself in a room with the man who'd tried to kill her and her friends in pursuit of a dead man's goals and to feel perfectly safe in his presence. It was even stranger to think that this same man was her father! 

Glancing back up at Snape from under her lashes, she saw that his face had resumed it's usual blank expression. She wondered why it was that this turn of events made her feel as if she was missing something. Something essential. 

Sighing, she resumed her spot on the couch beside Narcissa, who reached out to stroke her shoulder. Despite her lack of closeness with her, she had to fight hard not to crumble at the gentle touch. She hadn't realised how exhausted she was from keeping up her constant facade of strength for the boys until she'd been shown understanding and kindness from the people she'd least expected it from. 

"Alright, so... what exactly did you two have planned out for this? And please don't say you've planned some massive party with everyone who's everyone in wizarding Britain attending" she spoke into the silence.   
  
"We won't tell you then" Narcissa joked, bumping her shoulder against Hermione's. 

Hermione laughed bitterly but bumped Narcissa's shoulder in return. 

"Right then, exactly how much etiquette training do I need to do for an event like this then?" and with this simple statement, Hermione resigned herself to her fate. At least with an event like this and all the planning it entailed would allow her a good opportunity to get to know Lucius and Narcissa better. Maybe even Draco could be persuaded to assist her smooth transition into such a different sphere of society? 

"It seems as if Severus has already covered most of the basics that your Hogwarts education hasn't already covered, all that remains is for my wife to refine your skills until your upbringing as a Muggle isn't discernible" Lucius finally spoke up. 

Hermione turned to face him, trying not to bristle at the things his words implied. Starting a fight with her father was not the way to better connect with him, but that knowledge didn't make her decision not to speak any easier. She knew there'd be many conversations about such things in their future, and she did not look forward to them. 

“What exactly would I need to know in order to attend one of these parties and not embarrass you?” Hermione chose to ask instead of espousing her feminist ideals till the cows came home. 

“That’s rather a loaded question for our first meeting, dear” Narcissa replied, stretching her delicate hands out to where Hermione was still pacing holes in Severus’s carpet. “Maybe we should focus on getting to know one another better before we delve into such matters.” 

“I’ll fetch us another pot of tea” Professor Snape spoke suddenly into the silence that had descended upon his sitting room. 

Hermione finally sank back on the sofa beside her step-mother. “You’re right” she eventually said. “I don’t want to feel inadequate around either of you just yet” 

Because her eyes were fixed intently on Professor Snape’s much-abused rug, she didn’t notice when Narcissa frowned and exchanged a meaningful glance with Lucius. 

The minutes passed in awkward silence while Hermione hung her head until Severus returned with a fresh tea-tray, replete with all the fixings. Her stomach growled its pleasure for what she considered, along with the rest of Britain, the drink of the Gods. 

Chuckling, he poured her cup of tea first and pressed it into her hands before setting down the saucer on the coffee table before her and tucked a biscuit on the edge of it. Hermione glanced up and smiled at him before she took a small sip of her tea, but as soon as the delicious flavours of what was clearly Professor Snape’s own personal blend hit her tongue she immediately tipped the cup as far back as it would go and drained it. She hadn’t realised how thirsty she’d been until she’d taken that first sip. 

She looked up to find everyone’s eyes on her. Blushing, she ducked her head behind her hair and reached out to nibble at the biscuit Severus had laid out for her. 

“Is that the first time you’ve had Severus’s special tea blend?” Lucius asked her. 

Tucking her hair behind her ear, she smiled at him and nodded, careful to hide her buck teeth behind her lips. She didn’t want any further judgement on her appearance as well as her behaviour on her first proper interaction with her magical parents. 

“I’ve been wondering,” she paused to see how they would react to her asking a question of them, instead of the other way around but Lucius simply waved her on with an airy wave of his aristocratic hand, “what this means for my parents, my Muggle ones, that is? Will I still be able to see them or am I expect you two to take over all parental duties that have previously belonged to them?” 

Again, the spouses exchanged meaningful glances with one another. All Hermione could think was that someday she could hope to know them well enough that she’d be able to translate those looks, and someday even further down the track, she might have someone she was close enough with that she could exchange such looks with them in order to communicate without words. But she was young yet, she had time for such ambitions to bear fruit. 

“Hermione, we would never presume to take you away from the parents you’ve known for your life so far, we don’t wish to replace them, only to enhance the magical support network you’ll have access to, so to speak” Narcissa spoke, which Hermione could only assume had been the result of those communicative glances exchanged between husband and wife. 

“Exactly” Lucius added. “You really will have the best of both worlds! In fact, there are probably a few things you could teach our Draco about existing in the Muggle world since we’ve been considering expanding our businesses into their world as well as our own and if Draco ends up taking over from me should I choose to retire, he’ll need to well-versed in their culture and behaviours. Ideally, we’d like both of you to work for our corporation but if that isn’t what makes either of you happy you’re more than welcome to explore other avenues. I’m not at death’s door yet and I have several well-trained executive officers ready to take my place should that be the case” he explained. 

Hermione’s eyes about goggled out of her head! She hadn’t expected either of them to have thought things through so thoroughly already when all she’d been thinking about was what subjects she should take for her NEWTS, since she had no clue what she was going to do with her life once she left Hogwarts. She’d have to discuss all of her options with Professor Snape as soon as this meeting was over. She trusted his opinion. 

“If I can be assured that I am not speaking out of turn, I can assure you that Miss Granger has not previously considered such options, and maybe a little overwhelmed by such a pronouncement. If you would just give us a minute?” Professor Snape spoke up to explain Hermione’s stunned silence and she stared in confused thanks at him even as he gestured at her to follow him into what she assumed was the kitchen of his apartments. 

Getting to her feet and following meekly after him, she soon found out that it was indeed a small but well-equipped kitchen tucked away behind an arched doorway from his sitting room. It featured a beautiful stained glass window that appeared to look out over the underside of the Black Lake, where she could see mermaids frolicking about in the water while playing with the Giant Squid. She could have stood there watching them play for hours and never been bored. It was possible that was because she didn’t want to face the music in the sitting room just yet. 

“Is their proposition something you hadn’t considered and that’s why you’re frozen like a deer in the headlights, or are you too terrified of displeasing them to tell them working in business is the last thing you’d ever thought of doing? Answer me honestly and I can help you breach the bad news to them” Professor Snape spoke softly, as if he intended to comfort her. She found she appreciated his honesty as well as his kindness. 

“…I’m not sure?” she told him. “I’m sure I could manage it if I had to” 

“But you don’t really want to” he finished for her. 

She nodded, unwilling to admit to her traitorous thoughts out loud. This meeting clearly wasn’t going as well as she’d hoped it to if she was already going to disappoint her new guardians. But they would all just have to deal with it, she supposed. She couldn’t change her entire personality overnight just because everything she’d thought was true about her life had been turned on its head. Change was a gradual thing, in her experience. 

“Well, come along then, we may as well get this over with before they wonder if I’ve spirited you away from them forever” his voice rose at the end of this pronouncement and for the first time, Hermione wondered if this whole situation was as stressful for him as it had been for her. Then she wondered if he really wanted to be involved in all her family drama and if she shouldn’t release him before he began to resent her. 

Instead, she followed him back into his sitting room with her head down and her face hidden by her unruly hair. 

She didn’t know what she was going to say, but she hoped that Professor Snape would take pity on her one last time before she released him from his duty as her intermediary with her new parents. Then she’d just have to learn how to cope on her own.


	7. Plans and Apologies

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Hermione's meeting with the Malfoys continues as they discuss her future. Some digressions from canon are discussed that affect their relationship eg Lucius trying to kill her and her friends at the "Final Battle" in the Department of Mysteries.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> So I know my update schedule when I have chapters to publish is every day but ummmm i forgot yesterday *ducks* anyway, I wrote this a few days ago when I went slightly insane and wrote like 5k because i started and couldn't stop? so enjoy... (I guess that's where I was going with this rambly message!) <3  
> p.s. the chapters start getting longer slightly now because i have absolutely no self-control once i start rambling (see?)  
> p.p.s broke my promise about more luna, but she'll be here again soon, i promise! (just gimme a couple of chapters)

“Miss Granger wishes you both to know that going into a business-related career isn’t her area of expertise but she regrets disappointing you” Professor Snape spoke for her, and all Hermione found the bravery for was a simple nod of her head behind her hair.  


She hoped her Gryffindor bravery would come back soon, as she knew she was going to need it when the truth of her identity became public knowledge. 

When the silence in the room continued to linger after Severus’s pronouncement, Hermione was eventually forced to look up, whereupon she saw only three faces looking at her with concern writ across their features. Blushing, she rounded the couch and sat back down beside her step-mother. 

“I prefer more academically inclined areas” she explained. 

“I feel much the same” Lucius admitted. “Unfortunately, my father didn’t give me a choice about joining the family business, and I always swore to myself that I would never force my own children into doing something with their lives that they would have cause to hate me for. It gives me great grief that you felt unsure enough of our continuing support of you that Severus had to be the one to announce your decision to us. Please know that we are always here for you when you need support, no matter what it is” he assured her, his eyes kind. 

“How terrible!” she empathised with his plight. “And to think that after all these years you’re still doing what he wanted you to, even though you don’t want to? That’s admirable!” her hands waved about her with her newfound enthusiasm for her topic. It probably should have surprised her how quickly her emotions could change so drastically, but she set that aside as a dilemma to worry about later. She could probably blame it on teenage hormones anyway. 

Lucius shrugged. “I’ve gotten used to it, even learned to enjoy it in my own way. Though I admit, it hasn’t always led me to make the best decisions. I know you’ve been on the receiving end of those poor decisions, and for that I forgive you if you don’t feel comfortable fully trusting me just yet. If it helps at all, you should know that you were always perfectly safe during the Final Battle. I’d bribed everyone there not to cast anything fatal in your direction, Dolohov, however, apparently had a different idea of what ‘fatal’ meant, and it was only your quick-thinking and Severus’s ability with healing potions that saved your life. I’ve never regretted anything more than my actions that night and I will do everything in my power to make it up to you and be the best father to you I can” 

Hermione didn’t know what to say to this sudden pronouncement, unsure where it had come from but also inexplicably glad that it had come up in conversation since she’d been too unsure of her position within this strange family unit to bring it up herself. There was something comforting to finally having some answers about the discrepancies between the man she’d met that night at the Department of Mysteries and the man who was seated just across from her now. 

“Then I’m gladder than ever that he’s locked behind bars for the rest of his life” she eventually said. “I’d not have wanted the war not to have ended there but continued for two more years before culminating in the end of Wizarding society as we know it, only for him and all the rest like him to escape the justice they deserve, not to mention never knowing who we truly were to each other until such a time, when war would have formed my personality in such a way that we’d never be able to sit in the same room as we are now and have a civil conversation. 

“I’d have wanted to kill you for what you did, and as it is I’m a little hurt by your explanation even though the logical side of me knows you only did what you thought was best at the time, and it probably was the most logical decision for you to make, and yet the thought that you hid my true identity from me for my entire life so far until just now, when it was convenient for you, makes me seethe! How dare you let me go through so much discrimination in the magical community just because it suited you to keep your affair secret? To not even tell your own son so that he’d at least stop bullying me? 

“I might forgive you for your part in the war, as much as I am able, but I’m not sure if I can ever forgive you for that. You gave me up and set me loose from you for sixteen years and you think I’d be ok with that overnight? I need more time” she eventually finished her rant at her father, though she was still uncomfortable thinking of him in those terms. Perhaps it was for the best if she continued to think of him as Lucius for the moment? 

There was silence among all four of them as the three adults in the room digested her words. Hermione began to regret being quite so candid, her thoughts spiralling as she considered each of her word choices and wondered whether she should have phrased certain points differently so as not to cause as much offense. 

“Who would like another cup of tea?” Professor Snape came to the rescue after what felt like hours. It may have only been five minutes, but to Hermione, it had felt like an eternity. 

Hermione nodded helplessly at him and smiled as well as she could manage in her emotional turmoil to show her appreciation for his surprising kindness towards her today. 

Then when he stood and headed back into the kitchen, she got to her feet and followed him on silent feet. 

“What do I do?” she asked him when they were safely ensconced in the kitchen alcove. “I didn’t mean to be so rude but the words just spilled out before I could stop them!” 

He sighed and rubbed a hand down the significant bridge of his nose, which didn’t help her to feel any better. 

“By no means do I mean to imply that your feelings are invalid by saying this, but you are so important to Lucius that your health and wellbeing over the years have caused him numerous sleepless nights and near-breakdowns. However, since you are not yet a parent, I understand that it’s impossible for you to fully comprehend that level of commitment to another human being where you’re fully responsible for their welfare” he explained, his voice gentle. She almost found herself leaning towards him as the low tones of his voice seemed to reach out and caress her into a calmer state. 

“I’ll have you know I’ve been responsible for the welfare of both Harry and Ron for five years now, and I think I’m doing quite well at it!” she protested, unable to prevent her voice from rising in both pitch and volume, regardless of whether or not the Malfoys would be able to hear her. She found that she didn’t care. 

“You have. But you must concede that your relationship with your friends isn’t the same as a child’s relationship with their parents, nor is your situation with the Malfoys a conventional parent-child relationship by any means. Lucius has done as best as he can by you, and he hopes to make up for all of his past mistakes by getting to know you better. I’ll be the last person to protest if you choose not to see either of them again after this meeting, but I do feel obliged through my own relationship with them to encourage you to go back in there and at least listen to what he has to say for his past behaviour towards you. You might be surprised by what you hear” he replied. 

Looking away from his piercing gaze and out the window where the mermaids were still tormenting the poor Giant Squid, she considered his words. It would do her no more harm than she’d already suffered to turn around and do as he’d asked. She might even learn something. And she did love learning! 

She sighed, rolled her eyes and turned away from Snape and headed back into the sitting room. She sat down on the couch once more and prepared not to move from her spot until this meeting was finally over. 

She looked up at her father and was surprised to find that Snape hadn’t followed her back into the room. Shrugging, she assumed he was still in the kitchen preparing another pot of tea or something like that. 

“Will you allow me to explain some of my history and how my experiences shaped who I am today and caused me to make the decisions I did?” Lucius asked, his face almost pleading with her to take pity on him. 

So she did, with a small nod in his direction though she refused to make eye contact. His silver eyes reminded her too strongly of his son for comfort, especially when the topic was such a heavy one. 

“I’ve already said a little about the monster my own father was to me, so I won’t go into any detail on that front, but you should know that your own and Draco’s upbringing, though not exactly ideal, were vastly improved over my own, and I did my best to ensure that. Both because you were born out of wedlock and a bastard to boot, keeping you and raising you alongside Draco would not have done you any favours. You’d have lived your life up until now a social pariah simply because of the circumstances of your birth. However, I do regret that the traditional way we raised Draco led him to abuse his own position in society in comparison to the position we placed you in. For that, I can only apologise and promise to do better by both of you. 

“In fact, if you agree to it, we’d like to have both you and your parents stay with us over the Christmas break at Malfoy Manor. You’d have a wing to yourselves if you didn’t wish to mingle with us, and it would allow us all an opportunity to get to know each other better in a safe space. Not to mention that Severus would be there too in his capacity as Draco’s godfather so that might make things less awkward if you’re worried about that” he explained. 

Hermione glanced between husband and wife to ascertain their expressions before she focused on a particularly fascinating grain of the wood in Severus’s coffee table while she thought of her response to his offer. She didn’t fully know what to think, but she knew she wasn’t as incensed as she was before. That had to be an improvement. 

However, she couldn’t help but think that a family Christmas this soon into their budding relationship couldn’t possibly be a good idea, and yet there was a part of her that wanted to agree to it anyway. Maybe it would be fine? 

“I think it might be worth a shot” she offered, smiling tentatively at first Lucius and then Narcissa, who reached over to pat her hands where they rested on her lap. 

They both smiled at her, practically beamed. 

Then Professor Snape re-entered the room carrying yet another tea tray, this time ladened with a plate of sandwiches. Hermione’s stomach growled again since she’d been too nervous and breakfast to eat anything, and that lone biscuit earlier hadn’t done much to fill the gaping hole in her belly. 

The others all chuckled at her plight, and she was glad of it because it broke the tense atmosphere that had been brewing. Yet again she was indebted to Professor Snape for his impeccable timing. 

He poured her a cup of tea and handed her a sandwich which she accepted eagerly. She hadn’t realised how hungry she was until she was confronted with the thought of sustenance. 

She smiled her thanks at him, enjoying the way his black eyes transformed from a fathomless, blank expression to burning through her with the warmth they exuded. 

“So, all has been resolved for now?” he asked the room at large when it seemed as if no one else was going to speak, handing Narcissa her tea and offering her the plate of sandwiches, which she graciously refused. 

For a moment or two, it seemed as if no one would answer his inquiry until Lucius cleared his throat and it seemed as if he would speak. 

“I believe so. In fact, I think we’ve quite overstayed our welcome” he said, glancing meaningfully at his wife. “We did promise we’d speak to Draco before we left, so we’d best go and do that before he begins to think that we lied” 

Severus snorted but nodded his acquiescence. 

At this wordless signal, the two Malfoys got to their feet and began to gather their things from where they’d left them on Snape’s dining table.  
Hermione got to her feet as she shoved the last bite of her sandwich into her mouth and chewed it as quickly as she could. She wasn’t sure what the protocols were for saying goodbye to your new parents when you’d only just met them as a late teenager. Would a hug be acceptable? 

She was almost frozen with uncertainty when Narcissa approached her first. But Professor Snape’s hand on the small of her back calmed her nerves enough that she could accept the other woman’s kiss on her cheek with dignity. He stayed there even as Lucius came closer and gave her hand a firm shake. 

When they both exited Professor Snape’s chambers, Hermione could finally breathe a sigh of relief before sinking back onto the couch. 

“I’m so glad that’s over,” she said, grabbing another sandwich from the still-full plate. 

Professor Snape hummed but didn’t make any other reply, so she just shrugged and continued eating her sandwich.


	8. Further Conversation

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Draco confronts Hermione over breakfast, she gets angry and goes to ask Severus why his godson is such a little shit. They talk some more about life in the wizarding world.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> More luna next chapter, I promise! In the meantime, enjoy this one <3

Hermione knew she’d never forget the events of breakfast that morning, not for the rest of her life. 

She’d only sat down to eat her breakfast in peace, nice and early on a Sunday morning to avoid the crowd when a certain blond had plonked himself down beside her and poked her viciously in the side until she’d paid attention to him. 

“What do you want?” she’d snapped at him, wishing Professor Snape was here to comfort her for this conversation, but this time she was well and truly on her own, with Harry and Ron still sleeping off whatever dumb thing they’d done to amuse themselves last night. 

He raised his hands in the universal symbol for surrender. “Calm down! I’m not going to kill you or anything, I just want to chat. It’s so weird to think that we’re related! To think that for all these years I’ve been jealous of your academic successes and wondering how a Muggleborn could be such a good witch, but the truth of your bloodline really explains it, doesn’t it?” he asked, she assumed rhetorically, so she just continued eating her breakfast and waited for him to resume speaking. 

“Not that there’s anything wrong with your being a Muggleborn!” he explained, to her relief. “I just meant that my being jealous over your good marks seems silly now since you’re the one that inherited all the fun family traits, while I’m just stuck being the second-born child, wrongly named Dragon when it’s you with the draconic powers!” he spat out. 

Hermione turned to look at him then. She hadn’t considered that he’d be jealous of her for her powers that she didn’t even want. But, then again, having been an only child all her life, she still didn’t really understand how the sibling dynamic worked, or how it would affect her life from now on. 

“Did you ever consider that I was just fine with my life the way it was before? That I didn’t want to wake up on the morning of my birthday only to find out that everything I thought was true about my life has been a lie, not to mention the weird magical phenomena exhibiting itself through my body so I always feel as I’m not fully in control of myself anymore?” she asked him, setting aside her half-eaten bowl of porridge and getting up from the bench. It was time for her to be elsewhere, possibly bugging Professor Snape or Luna for more advice about both siblings and also being a member of the Malfoy family without murdering her half-brother. 

She didn’t look back at him as she stormed out of the Great Hall and towards the dungeons. She sure hoped her Potions Professor was awake and ready to answer all her questions. 

She arrived at his office door and knocked as loudly as she could and stood back to wait. But she didn’t have to wait long, as the door opened almost immediately by a cranky looking Potions Professor, who had clearly been up for a few hours already. She wondered if he suffered from nightmares too? Would it be inappropriate to ask him? 

“What do you want?” he snapped, and she almost laughed aloud as he unintentionally reminded her of her own words just now to Draco. 

“I just have a few questions for you if you have the time. If you don’t, I understand” she said. 

Sighing, he stood aside and motioned for her to come in. 

Smiling up at him, she stepped around him and into his office, wondering if they’d sit here again or if he’d allow her into his sitting-room again. She’d found it was nice to see how one of the most elusive teachers lived when he wasn’t teaching as if she could ascertain more about him from his living space. 

“Follow me, I’ve been working on an experiment and it will only last so long under a stasis charm. But first, you must promise me that you won’t touch anything unless I explicitly give you permission to do so” he told her sternly. 

She nodded breathlessly and followed him into his chambers where he led her through a different door than he had yesterday which she knew led to his sitting room. This door must lead to his personal laboratory. Despite her lack of affinity for Potions, at least, according to Professor Snape, she was excited to see where he had created so many new potions or improved ones that needed improving. It gratified her to know that there was someone else out there who was as much of a perfectionist as she was. 

Eventually, the corridor they were walking down, lit only by the occasional torch on the walls and utterly unfamiliar to her from her own adventures exploring Hogwarts, they arrived at a door. 

Professor Snape waved his wand in a complicated pattern and whispered some words she couldn’t quite make out, so she assumed this was his password and how he protected the great danger and secrecy of his work from those who were uninitiated. Though she also knew that the only reason he was allowing her into this sanctuary of his was because of his obligation to Lucius and because of the importance of whatever potion he was brewing that it couldn’t be left unattended. 

He ushered her in before closing the door behind them both, she presumed so that he could assure that they wouldn’t be disturbed. She couldn’t help but notice that there was no fireplace in the room, so there was no way for anyone to floo in or out of this room. 

They were utterly alone. 

She liked it. 

“Now, what was it that you were wondering about that you felt the need to disturb me on one of my few days off?” Professor Snape snarked at her. 

Smiling, Hermione struggled to remember what it had been that she’d wanted to ask in the face of his bare forearms as he rolled his white sleeves up to his elbows. She’d never noticed the wiry strength he possessed, and her only defense for her lack of observance was the fact that he was always so covered up when teaching. Though she could quite easily put that down to the cool temperatures of the dungeons rather than any self-consciousness about his appearance. 

“Why is your godson such a little shit?” popped out of her mouth instead of the carefully worded questions she’d thought up before she went to bed last night. 

What she hadn’t expected was for him to whip around towards her from his potions bench where his potion was still in the process of brewing with such an amusing expression of shock on his face. Then he burst out laughing, and his whole face transformed as his mouth broke out into a brilliant smile which stretched the skin around his eyes until his whole face glowed with such happy expression as caused Hermione to smile right back at him, though she didn’t really see what was so humorous about what she’d said. 

“Now that isn’t what I’d expected you to say, that’s for sure!” he said as his laughter subsided and he returned to his potion. “As to Draco, I can’t really say for sure, but my best guess is that his unfortunate condition is due to a combination of factors. For instance, Narcissa indulged his every whim as a child, so now he’s a spoilt brat. Lucius had to maintain his cover as a Death Eater, even when his heart wasn’t in it anymore, so he had to indoctrinate him to all the values that such a lifestyle entailed, at least until the Dark Lord was defeated, and now that he’s finally gone, it’s going to be a long process to unlearn all those things he’s held onto in his youth. And then there’s the fact that he’s spent his entire life so far surrounded by people who truly believe that because of his birth he is superior to them and so they have given in to his every whim as well and obviously it’s gone to his head. He now believes that he truly deserves their deference to him, having never learned that he isn’t ‘all that’, as you Muggles would put it. I truly think that having you as his sibling will force him to grow up, regardless of if he wants to until he finally matures into the man he should have always been” 

Hermione was shocked to say the least. She hadn’t expected to take her question seriously. Well, he hadn’t at first, judging by the way he’d laughed, but she didn’t mind, it had been nice to see her normally-uptight teacher finally let loose. 

“Well, when you put it like that!” she tried to joke, taking a tentative step toward him. He’d said not to touch anything without his explicit permission but did that include the floor? “All my interactions with him make much more sense than they ever have before! I’ll try to keep all those factors in mind when next I have to interact with him. Which I hope isn’t until Christmas!” 

Snape chuckled as he continued tending to his potion, though he didn’t turn around or reprimand her for moving from the spot he’d placed her in. 

“Was there anything else you wanted to discuss or was that all?” he glanced at her over his shoulder, allowing her a glimpse of one dark eye and the breadth of his nose. 

“Um, I guess I had some questions about yesterday after the Malfoys left? I mean, are they always like that? Do you think we’ll ever reach a point where we’ll be comfortable around each other, the way I am with my parents? The ones that raised me, that is” she asked hesitantly.  


“Hmm. That is rather a loaded question. I honestly can’t say for sure, since the future is always changing from moment to moment, but I can say that Lucius and Narcissa’s relationship with Draco has had its ups and downs, and I’d imagine that your own relationship with them will follow similar patterns as you get to know each other better. Of course, it’s hard to judge, considering that Draco’s upbringing was largely shaped by the impending threat of the war, and now that it’s over, it will leave you both free to act in ways you couldn’t before, which will, of course, include his parents and their interactions with you” he theorised. Hermione followed his logic and nodded in understanding as she arrived at his left shoulder and glanced down to see what he was working on. 

A lime green oozy liquid bubbled away in his cauldron and Hermione searched her internal index of the potions she knew, but what she saw in front of her didn’t match any of the descriptions of potions that she could think of. 

“What are you working on?” she asked instead of replying to his explanation. 

He glanced at her behind the curtain of his hair then refocused back on the potion. 

“It’s an experiment I’ve been working on, that’s why you can’t recognise it” he read her mind. “Now that the war’s finally over, I have time to work on all the things I’ve wanted to over the years but haven’t had time for, mostly because I was chasing after you and your idiotic friends to ensure that you didn’t get yourself killed. And it was a near thing sometimes! Since all my prior life goals unrelated to potions have been achieved, I can finally pursue the things I’ve had to put off for all these years” 

She nodded even though she was relatively certain that he couldn’t see it. 

“What was the first thing you wanted to work on?” she asked, not just to continue the conversation, but because she genuinely wanted to know.  


“Glad as I am that you’ve never been put under the Cruciatus Curse, both Lucius and I have been tortured with it many a time, and the damage it does to one’s nervous system over time causes continual nerve damage, which worsens with age and cold weather, both of which are abundant for the both of us. Hopefully, if I can get this to work as I intend it to, it will at the very least ease our suffering, if I can’t quite manage to prevent further nerve damage or heal it all together” he explained, focusing intently on stirring the potion with his long, elegant fingers. 

“That’s admirable” Hermione commented, wanting to lay a hand on his shoulder in support and encouragement, but held back for the fear that she’d distract him from the importance of his work. 

“Not really. I think anyone in my position would do the same, people are largely self-serving, especially Slytherins. You’ll learn that soon enough” he replied. 

She shrugged. Clearly, there was no way to convince him of the inherent goodness in what he was doing, and that even if it was borne out of selfishness, he deserved to be treated better, and that the results would do good to so many other than himself, which would surely ameliorate its self-serving beginnings? 

“I don’t think they would” she spoke softly. “It takes great courage to admit that you’re in pain, and even more to seek out a way to cure that pain in such a way that would benefit more than yourself. I think that end goal more than rectifies the self-serving beginnings, and that’s only if you view it that way, because I don’t think most people would even take that into account. They’d be too busy singing your praises for curing their own pain to care that you started the project for your own benefit” she thought aloud. 

“I disagree,” he told her, concentrating fiercely on his potion, though she wasn’t sure if that was because it truly needed all of his attention or if he was simply avoiding her gaze. “I’ve existed in this world for a great deal longer than you have, and have more experience in the affairs of wizarding society. I don’t think that after my involvement with ‘the wrong side’ of the Second Wizarding War that I shall be so easily forgiven by those who are already so inclined against me. In fact, if I ever get this potion to the point that it is safe to be unleashed upon society, I shall patent it under a pseudonym. I have friends on the board of the Potions Mastery Committee who would look the other way so long as I filled out all the necessary paperwork to cover their weaselly backs” he explained. 

She nodded, knowing that he couldn’t see her unless his eyes weren’t bound by the laws of human anatomy, but replying in some way, even through body language, seemed like the polite thing to do. 

“How will you ever know whether or not people would be willing to forgive you for past sins that you committed when you were my age if you never reveal your true self to the world?” she asked him, genuinely curious, and not just asking for his sake, but for her own. 

She was aware that the entire time she’d been at Hogwarts, she’d presented only one facet of herself to her peers, and now that she was learning to embrace her draconic traits as well as the rest of her newly discovered birthright and all that entailed, she was wondering how on earth she was going to come forward and live truthfully without being accused of fraudulent behaviour all these years. She wouldn’t put it past Harry and Ron to kick up a stink just because they’d been the last to know something important, again, when actually it was none of their business. And if that were the case, she didn’t know how she would deal with that. She’d have to figure it out when, or if, it happened. 

Caught up as she was in her own head, she wasn’t aware of the way he’d frozen in place, stiffened until he was a statue, or a robot, who continued to stir his potion despite his mind clearly being elsewhere. 

“Are you ok?” she asked him. 

Shaking his head as if to clear it of whatever plagued him, but he made no reply. 

Shrugging, Hermione decided she’d said what she’d come here to say and learned all that she could learn from him for now. She’d clearly broken his brain a little bit, so it was probably for the best if she left him to process his demons in his own time before she came back. Now the rest of the weekend was hers to enjoy! Which meant homework in the library!


End file.
